Leon Ashley passed away on October 20. He was 77. Robert K. Oermann writes that “Ashley made history in 1967 when he became the first person to have a No. 1 hit with a song he wrote, published and sang on his own record label. That song, ‘Laura (What’s He Got That I Ain’t Got),’ became a favorite also recorded by artists such as Marty Robbins, Claude King, Kenny Rogers, The Newbeats, Frankie Laine, Tom Jones, Hank Locklin, Tommy Collins, David Houston and Brook Benton.”

Stream Casey Driessen’s new record, The Singularity, at Relix.com. The Singularity is a pretty neat project, as every sound on the record was created through fiddle, voice, and looping. Be sure to listen to his carefully constructed take on “Billie Jean.”

Doug Davidson (Laurel River Line) passed away at the age of 45 after a short battle with pancreatic cancer.

Slaid Cleaves to Tricia Despres of The Chicago Sun-Times: “I just can’t stand that bigger-than-life, good ol’ boy kind of country music. It’s all pretty cheesy if you ask me. Whenever I accidently come across any nationally recognized music, it turns my stomach pretty much. All the videos are sexed up with people just trying to push buttons and get people all riled up. I have a friend who writes for a living in Nashville, and he tells me that last season it was all about banjos and now it’s all about tailgates and trucks. He tells me you got to hit those notes if you ever want to get your song cut. I mean, c’mon.”

Former Infamous Stringduster Jesse Cobb will release his first solo album, Solitude, on November 12.

The Avett Brothers joined Chris Cornell (Soundgarden) for a cover of Pearl Jam’s “Footsteps” on Fallon.

This year’s Black Friday releases will include material recorded by Uncle Tupelo, Roy Orbison, Blind Boys of Alabama, Jason Isbell and John Paul White, Townes Van Zandt, and many others. Check out the full list on the Record Store Day site.

Juli Thanki is the editor of Engine 145 and a freelance writer whose work has appeared in the Washington Post, Bluegrass Unlimited, and M Music & Musicians Magazine. In 2011 she received the International Bluegrass Music Association Print Media Person of the Year award.

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Music City Roots Alert! Tonight show should be a good spot of fun with Robbie Fulks, The Wood Brothers, A.J. Croce (any relation to Jim?), Poor Old Shine, and the Shelf Dusters Union. I will admit a lot of these newer Americana acts do get pretty creative with their band names. If only the music they made was even half as interesting…
Link: http://musiccityroots.com/shows

A Woody Guthrie box set getting coverage in the Huffington Puffington Compost Pile! I’m shocked! (lol) Hey, shouldn’t they change the name now that Arianna Huffington got booted out from the publication? Hmm…

I wish some additional Robin and Linda Williams songs would be covered by Earl Thomas Conley and Emmylou Harris. Their chart topping cover of “We Believe in Happy Endings” back in the 1980’s was awesome.

ABC’s “Nashville” is on tonight (isn’t it?) and I’m going to make it into a drinking game! Every time Juliette sneers at someone, or makes a smart aleck retort, I’m taking a swig of my Kevita Sparkling Probiotic Beverage! Yummmm (lol)

I recently read a Croce bio, “I Got a Name, The Jim Croce Story” written by Jim’s wife Ingrid and her husband, Jimmy Rock. It was published in 2012 by Da Capo Press. September 20th was the 40th anniversary of Jim’s death at 30.

Slaid moving from Maine to Texas many years ago was a great thing for Texas music, I love his writing. He has a very unique voice as well. Latest song “still fightin’ the war” is truly great and a portion of the money goes to the troops. Forgive me I forget which charity.